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THE PAPERS OF A.E.S. STEPHENS

BIOGRAPHY

Allie Edward Stakes Stephens was born November 4, 1900, in Wicomico Church,
Virginia, the fourth son of J.W.G. Stephens and Allie Tyson Beane Stephens.
Although Stephens became a successful lawyer and a prominent politician, he
did not come from a family background in either the law or politics. J.W.G.
Stephens had been a cowboy in the Dakotas before he returned to Virginia to
open a general merchandise store. Lacking a formal education himself, the elder
Stephens made sacrifices to secure a good education for his children, telling
them, "Without an education, all the money in the world will just make fools
out of you."

A.E.S. Stephens attended public schools in Northumberland County, Virginia,
and graduated from Wicomico Church High School in 1918. During his high school
years Stephens was so successful as a baseball pitcher that he was asked to
try out with the Washington Senators. Heeding his father's advice, Stephens
turned down the offer; however, he maintained a keen interest in baseball and
excelled in the sport during his student years at the College of William and
Mary.

Stephens entered William and Mary in the fall of 1919 and was awarded both
academic and law degrees upon graduation in 1923. It was at William and Mary
that Stephens received his life-long nickname, "Gi". Stephens stood 6'3" in
his bare feet and his friends claimed he was "lean as a giraffe,." Giraffe was
pronounced with a long "i" and from this pronunciation "Gi" was derived.

Stephens began practicing law in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia, on September
15, 1923. It was in Isle of Wight County in 1927 that Stephens experienced a
violent initiation into politics. An incident occurred in which a fourteen year
old white girl was allegedly brutally murdered by a black man.

At a time in Virginia history when lynchings still occurred, a mob formed and
demanded the death of the defendant. The Isle of Wight Commonwealth's Attorney,
however, succeeded in transporting the black man safely to Petersburg. Stephens
was asked by angry Isle of Wight residents to run for Commonwealth's Attorney
as an independent candidate, but Stephens made it absolutely clear that he would
neither run, nor accept the office if elected. Stephens, in fact, won the election,
but as he had promised he refused to accept the office despite the attempted
intimidation of the Ku Klux Klan.

Stephens formally began his political career when he was elected as a Democrat
to the House of Delegates in 1929. He served as a Delegate for twelve years.
In 1941 Stephens was elected to the Virginia Senate where he served until 1952.
After the death of Lieutenant Governor Lewis Preston Collins on September 20,
1952, Stephens announced his candidacy for the unexpired portion of Collins'
term. His candidacy was successful and in November 1953, he was elected to a
full four-year term. Stephens was re-elected Lieutenant Governor in 1957, and
served in that capacity until his resignation after an unsuccessful candidacy
for the Governorship in 1961.

While serving in the General Assembly of Virginia, Stephens was the chief patron
of the legislation which created the Hampton Roads Sanitation Commission. He
was interested in legislation pertaining to the seafood industry, and while
in the House of Delegates, he served as a member and chairman of the Committee
on Fish and Game. His most important accomplishments were in public education.
Stephens was the author and patron of the bill establishing the Denny School
Commission on which he also served. The recommendations of the Denny Commission
were instrumental in bringing about improvements in public schools in Virginia.

Throughout his political career, Stephens remained a member of the Democratic
Party and until the late 1950s he aligned himself with the powerful Byrd Organization.
Stephens split with the Byrd Machine in 1959 when he withdrew his support from
the Organization's policy of Massive Resistance to public school desegregation.
Stephens played a critical role in the demise of Massive Resistance when he,
as presiding officer of the Senate, ruled that the Senate could resolve itself
into a committee of the whole to consider the alternative Perrow Plan which
conceded a minimum of integration. This parliamentary tactic enabled the moderates
to bypass the Byrd Organization-dominated Education Committee and secured passage
of the Perrow proposals. By the time Stephens indicated his desire to run in
the 1961 Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia, he was clearly recognized
as independent of the Byrd Organization. Throughout his primary campaign Stephens
asked for the votes of the true Virginia Democrats, not those whom he accused
of using the Democratic label to get elected, and then following Republican
lines on the issues. Attorney General Albertis S. Harrison who had the Byrd
Organization's support, defeated Stephens in the July primary by a vote of 199,519
to 152,639, and Stephens resigned his position as Lieutenant Governor in late
1961. Stephens did not run for State office again, but remained an influence
in Virginia politics until his death.

Stephens' private life was filled with important and varied positions and accomplishments.
He married Anna Spratley Delk in 1928, and had three children, including the
first girl in the Stephens family in four generations. Stephens was a founder
and, at his death, President and a member of the Board of the Directors of Historic
St. Luke's Restoration. He was a member of the Smithfield Ruritan Club, Virginia
Bar Association and an honorary member of the Smithfield Rotary Club, which
he twice served as president. He was Town Attorney for the Town of Smithfield
for many years until his retirement on December 3, 1971. Stephens served as
a member of the Board of Visitors of Old Dominion University from 1968 to 1972.
He died, after a short illness, at Riverside Hospital, Newport News, Virginia
on June 9, 1973.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The A.E.S Stephens papers date from 1949 to 1961 and are divided into eight
basic series: Correspondence; Photographs; Biographical Data; Newspaper Clippings;
Campaign Records; Speeches; Statements; and Reference Material. The papers
principally relate to his unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Virginia from
December 1960, until his loss to Albertis Harrison in the Democratic Party primary
in July 1961. The papers dealing with the campaign period reflect Stephens'
stand on various campaign issues, and the frustrations of his attempt to win
the Democratic nomination against the opposition of the Byrd organization. The
majority of the papers prior to the 1960-1961 primary race focus on the issue
of Massive Resistance to racial integration in Virginia schools, and date back
to the early 1950s. The collection contains neither Stephens' private papers,
nor the records of his service in the Virginia General Assembly, or as Lieutenant
Governor.

PROVENANCE

Gift of Mrs. Anna Delk Stephens and Mr. Rodham T. Delk May 20, 1977

ACCESS

Open to researchers without restrictions. Questions on literary property rights
should be directed to the Special Collections Librarian